It’s not always that we rely on what we hear. We have to use also our comprehension.
Di ba nga ang sabi as long as we understand what the other person is saying, the diction, pronunciation, grammar, syntax, don’t matter much.
1. I was walking towards my car when I noticed a nice dress worn by a mannequin. I went back inside the building and looked for that boutique. I found it, tried on the dress, and I ended up buying two different colors. I decided to use my Citi credit card that I haven’t used for ages.
Sales Lady #1—“Ay FELD. Feld.”
Sales Lady #2—“Subukan mo ole.”
Sales Lady #1—-“FELD talaga. Mam, meron ka bang ibang card kasi feld.”
I just paid in cash. Immediately after, I received a message from Citibank asking me to verify my identity because I haven’t used my card for a long time and they just wanted to make sure that it was really me using the card”.
#failed
2. When Antinola heard that I would be going to the grocery, she hurriedly made a list of things she wanted me to buy from the grocery.
Antinola—-
“Mam, wala na tayong FRENDS BIN.”
And since I told her to make sure our guest (Mario Marasigan is served Filipino breakfasts,
she suggested that we also serve him tocino.
“Mam, yung bilhin mo Pampanga’s Best kasi walang American Flu.”
“Mam, wag yung M___ brand, kasi may American…. Swan Flu.”
A—–“Tart, sabi ni Antonia wag daw yung M___ tocino kasi may American Swan Flu.”
E—–“Paano naman nya nalaman?”
A—–“Baka sa tv.”
E—–“American na ngayon? Hindi na African flu?”
3. Antinola —- “Kokonti na mam ang Sars Cream, yung Suwars.”
4. My friend Angel Santiago-Rosales was looking for tamarind candies when we were in Chinatown in Bangkok. A friend of hers asked her to buy sweet and spicy.
Store number one:
Angel —“Do you have tamarind?”
Sales lady—-“Ta na li?”
Angel———“Tamarind”
Sales lady—-“Ta-ani”
Store number two:
Angel—–“Do you have Tamarind?”
Sales lady—“Hama”
Guy sitting beside the sales lady—-“Ha la dod”
Angel—–“Tamarind, tamarind”
Omb——-“Wala sila”
Store number three:
Angel—-“Tamarind”
Sales lady—-unknown sounds
Angel—–“Tamarind!
Sales lady—-??????
Angel—- “SAMPALOC!!”
5. I was trying to haggle with the price. The sales lady said Thai Baht 4,500. I was asking her to drop it to 4,000. She argued:
Moni moni my bot anggi. (Translation: money money my boss angry)
Lan let bi monimoni. Feb tousan. Pli say.
6. I was buying a dress, I asked if they have sizes:
Sales lady—-“You heb bibi? You have bibi buy open for bibi ah.
Itmol (small)
meju (medium)
lar (large)
7. Airport female security personnel to me:
“Na t wei, go pat tak”.
I really like Bangkok, I say it’s a better version of Manila in terms of cleanliness and orderliness. But I get frustrated with the language barrier.
7. I was getting bored watching CNN (all about Trump), HGTV, BBC Earth.
A—-“Tart, Let’s watch a movie.”
We went to Netflix and found the Money Heist parang detective.
A—-“O eto.”
We spent a few hours glued on tv. The next day my husband excitedly messaged me about that movie. Manood daw kami ng Paper Heist.
8. The next day, Edmund and I went to the farm and discovered that our dog Jersey had given birth a few days ago to six puppies, 3 females and 3 males.
Oyen suggested names:
Rio, Moscow, Nairobi, Denver, Berlin, and Tokyo (all characters from Money Heist).
9. My Thai acquaintance, asking me to invite them over.
“Imbat ak”.
(invite us)
10. A—-“What’s the name of my therapist?”
Spa receptionist—-“Tak ki”
A—–“Taki? Can you write it down?”
JACKY
11. “It a fel god mo-vhe, about Maslems”.
12. Grocery guard—-“Welcome mams, carts mams, thanks mams.”
I know I put on a lot of weight but do I look double? Why was he calling me mams?
13. St. Luke’s Medical Center in BGC: When we reached the ground floor, the female elevator operator or liftman / woman said to us “Ground, Beh”. I asked Oyen why did the woman address us that way. What’s beh? Baby? Bebe? Best friends? Are we close? I found it medyo baduy.
14. Mall sales staff—-“Good morning madam. god blezz, ingatz”.
15. While I was buying fruits at the Farmers Market in Cubao, a man looking so poor and dirty approached me asking for alms. I thought of giving him five pesos but I changed my mind, wala na syang mabibili sa limang piso so I gave him twenty pesos instead. He didn’t expect to receive beinte pesos. He said “Thank you, bless your soul”. Hindi kaya dating executive yan?
16. A male, reacting to a news report about a priest who stole funds from the church coffers to support his partner and children:
“Nagpari pa sya, yun lang pala ang gawain nya. Ang mga pari dapat calibracy, walang families”.
17. Two security guards at the entrance of Shangrila-Mall.
Guard #1—“Pasko na naman”
Guard #2—“Uu nga”
Guard #2—“Uwi ka?”
Guard #1—“Hinde, magtago ako”
18. Two security guards at the entrance of Robinsons Galleria.
Guard #1—-” ‘te, may buu ka?” Isuli sa swildu”.
Guard #2—-“Buo? Hihiram ka na naman”
Guard #1—-“kailangan lang”
Guard #2—-“Magkano?”
Guard #1—-“Singkwinta”
19. Me to the driver—-“Sabihin mo sa guard kay Amir Sali”.
Driver—-“Kay Amer Sachi. Ets address”.
